Lessons Learnt
by missgrant
Summary: AU fic based in modern day England. We meet some oddly familiar characters, such as Kelly Mindelan, a young teacher trying to make her way at Tortall Comprehensive School. Can she face the tough, and sometimes strange, times ahead?
1. Battle Stations

**Before anyone says anything I KNOW that I haven't updated "A New Generation" for aaaaages... I'm sorry. I blame...well lots of things. And now I seem to have started a new story. I haven't abandoned Ella and co, I'm just suffering from writer's block again (once more even though I know where the plot's going!) so I thought writing something else might get the creative juices going again.**

**Anyway, this was inspired by a couple of AU fics I've seen recently. I decided to do my own, based in a school. It might only be a couple of chapters as it's just a bit of a 'stop-gap'. Haven't decided yet.**

**All characters you recognise are based on Tamora Pierce's ones. I have changed some names to make them more "realistic". Enjoy!**

1

There was blood everywhere. It covered the shirt of the child, dripping in great gouts onto the dry grass beneath their feet.

"Keep your head tilted _back,_" snapped Kelly, feeling her usual calm exterior evaporate as a headache started behind her eyes. She thrust some more tissues into the student's free hand.

"It huuuuuuuuuuuurts!" came the resulting whine.

"I didn't _mean_ to!" Kelly glanced up at the girl who had spoken; her headache sparking sharply as she did so. "She didn't catch it! I thought she was going to catch it!"

Climbing to her feet with a groan – on days like this she felt much older than her twenty-three years – Kelly gave the girl a reassuring smile. "I know you didn't mean it Lola. But can you take her to the medical room please?" Turning back to the wailing Georgia, Kelly rested a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think your nose is broken, but you're going to need an ice pack on it. And it's probably best to have a little lie down for a while."

As the two girls made their way to the medical room, Kelly turned to look back at the rest of the Year Nines and then checked her watch. "No much point continuing the game now, girls. We'll call it a draw. I need a group to collect the rest of the balls and bats, and another group to get the posts. The rest of you can go and get changed."

"Yes Miss Mindelan." The class were a little subdued now, probably thinking about what could have happened if it had been _them_ on the receiving end of that well-thrown, very _solid,_ rounders' ball.

Back at the gym changing rooms, Kelly was knee deep in equipment, trying to sort through the mess the kids had left it in, when a student from another class knocked at the door.

"Yes?"

"Message for you Miss." The young girl – Kelly didn't recognise her – handed her a note.

_Urgent meeting for ALL staff tonight, main hall, 3.40pm_.

Kelly frowned and looked at her watch again. It was 3.25pm. That was odd. They never called meetings with this little warning, unless…

"No," she whispered. "Oh no. Not that."

Fifteen minutes later saw her in the hall. Scanning the busy room, she caught sight of the flame red hair of Mark Hollyrose and the lanky frame of Neil Queenscove.

"Aah, the marvellous Mindelan!" Neil said, slinging a long arm around her shoulders. "Are you ready for battle?"

Kelly raised her eyebrows at him, but she had to admit it _was_ a little bit like preparations for war in here. "I guess we've had the call then?"

Mark shrugged his shoulders, his blue eyes belying his worry. "Nothing official, but it's pretty obvious. There's been no sign of our esteemed leaders yet. Something's up."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the doors swung open and the Head walked in followed by the rest of the senior leadership team. Everyone scrambled for a chair.

A hush fell as Jonathan Conte cleared his throat, signalling his readiness. Gazing at him, Kelly wondered, not for the first time, about the man.

He was incredibly handsome, even in his late forties. His coal black hair and beard only held hints of grey. His piercing blue eyes sparkled with intelligence as he looked over his 'subjects'. Kelly had to admit he ran the school well; was as fair as he could be while retaining a sense of discipline. What she didn't like was his pandering to the more traditional members of the staff; the ones who blocked change at any cost. She was aware that, as a young and still green teacher, some of the older members of staff looked down their noses rather at her.

Her eyes travelled over the rest of the senior staff. Most notable was Theresa Conte, Deputy Head and Jonathan's wife. It was terribly controversial, but Theresa was incredibly likeable and fair minded – and importantly not afraid to disagree with her husband in public if he was reluctant to push new changes. If there was one fault she had it was being too beautiful. Kelly always felt like an ogre when she had to go and speak to the older woman.

Standing on the other side of Jonathan was the second Deputy Head, Gary Naxen, tall, smart and shrewd. Kelly had not had many dealings with the man, but she respected his intelligent way of managing people.

Flanking the deputies were the Assistant Heads: cheerful Ralph Goldenlake, who was so tall he had to duck through doors, and the very short Elena Trebond. The two were often seen together – "double trouble" Neil nicknamed them – calm and collected Ralph made a good balance to the fiery redheaded Elena.

Kelly realised the Head had started to speak and retuned her ears to listen to what was being said.

"I'm sure most of you have already worked out why you're here. We've had the call."

A groan rippled through the hall.

"Told you," muttered Mark in Kelly's ear.

"And yet, I know you are all ready," Jonathan was still speaking. "I know you are all prepared for this and will perform admirably. We have two days until they arrive. When that happens…"

The rest of the speech went pretty much as Kelly expected. There was no denying the man was inspirational, but she could never help being slightly sceptical of everything that came out of his mouth. At the moment, she was thinking, as she glanced around the room at the sea of grim faces, that people were probably _not_ as ready as their king and master thought they were.

The meeting lasted about twenty minutes. There wasn't much to say that people hadn't worked out themselves.

"This is it then," said Neil glumly, as they walked out of the hall. "We're doomed. Doomed I tell you."

"We're not doomed, Neil, don't be overdramatic," said Kelly evenly, running through her head everything she needed to do to prepare.

"I'm always dramatic, you know that. That's why I'm a good English teacher. Well…" Neil's expression fell. "I thought I was. I might not be for much longer."

Kelly shared an exasperated glance with Mark, but before she could respond a serious voice interrupted her.

"Mindelan, Hollyrose. A word if you would."

Feeling all the muscles in her body jump to attention, Kelly turned as Mark did. Behind them stood Will Cavall, Head of Physical Education and their immediate boss.

He was a stocky man, balding, with a prominent scar that ran across his temple to the corner of his eye. Kelly had never worked up the nerve to ask exactly how it had happened, but she knew he had been in the army before becoming a teacher. She guessed it might have come from the same incident that caused him to wince at times when he used his right arm.

Will's stony brown eyes looked over the two newest members of his team, resting the longest on Kelly. Although she had a healthy respect for the man – he was an excellent teacher and enjoyed a level of discipline in his lessons that she had to work hard to maintain – Kelly knew that he was having a hard time accepting her into his department. She was fresh out of training and had plenty of new ideas, which grated on Will's sense of traditional teaching methods. And she was a girl. Kelly had noticed a couple of times that whenever Mark – who was the same age and had received the same training as her – suggested something, Will barely flinched. Whenever _she_ made suggestions, such as starting a girls' football team, the inner war that raged within him was visible on his otherwise stern face.

Kelly had got her girls' football team. She strongly suspected that her 'casually' mentioning it to every other member of staff had forced Will's hand a little. He had never shown up to a training session and frowned every time someone mentioned it.

"I'd like you both here as early as possible in the morning," he said, sounding remarkably calm in the face of the news. "We should really review everything and make sure we are prepared for when they come." Kelly noticed no one had said the dreaded word yet. "I'd like a team meeting as soon as everyone's in. But for now, go home, the both of you."

"But…" Mark and Kelly said the word simultaneously.

Will held up a hand. "I mean it. We don't have any clubs after school tonight. Chaos is going to swallow us in the next two days and I want you both prepared. Rest up tonight. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yes sir," Kelly and Mark muttered. He nodded at them, glared at Neil who was still standing there, and strode off.

"I can't believe you two call him 'sir'," smirked Neil. He and Will had a strange working relationship, which involved the Head of PE avoiding the younger man at all costs. Neil's witty, and sometimes cutting, remarks made Will grind his teeth together audibly.

Mark shook his head. "I can't imagine calling him anything else."

"The man is such a…such a _stump_."

"Neil," Kelly gave him a warning glare.

"Sorry," Neil shrugged, his bright green eyes looking a little rueful. "He's right for once though. We should try and have a chilled one tonight. Sitting at home panicking is not going to make the next few days easier. Who fancies dinner down the pub this evening?"

Mark nodded eagerly, but Kelly was unsure. "I don't know, I've got a few things I should be sorting…"

"_Kel,_" Neil put his hand on her shoulder. "If anyone is the most prepared for this, it's bound to be you, Miss Organisation." When he saw refusal in her eyes, he added, noncommittally, "Dom's probably going to be there."

Kelly's heart sped up. She and Neil had met during their training year at the school, along with Mark and a few others. At first, she'd had a bit of a crush on Neil himself – the older man who had turned away from a promising career as a doctor to become a teacher. That had waned as the two of them became firm friends, despite a plethora of differences between them.

Then Neil had introduced her to his cousin Dominic Masbolle. Dom taught at a different school, one a few miles away. Tall and dark haired with the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen on a male, Kelly had found herself falling hard. Dom was a little older than Neil (too old, she kept telling herself. It never worked) and possessive of a similar sense of humour, minus much of the sarcasm.

"Well…" she said, eventually, once she was sure none of her emotions were showing on her face. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a relaxed meal out."

"That's my girl," Neal linked arms with her, while Mark simply shook his head, red-hair flopping over his forehead. "Besides, you heard the Stump. Once OFSTED arrive, chaos will swallow us all."

xxx

**A/N Well, the first chapter was really just setting the scene. I realised some overseas readers might be a little confused. OFSTED is the school regulatory board in the UK (and their visits are indeed like schools preparing for war!). "Rounders" is a game, not dissimilar to baseball, played in English schools. And when I talk about football, I mean "soccer".**


	2. Quest for the Green Knight

**Hello my lovelies! Once more, no I haven't abandoned "A New Generation"...I've just got a severe case of writer's block ****_again._**** And this story seems to be my fall back for that ailment now! Also September happened, which means I'm back at work after what seemed to be the ****_fastest_**** summer holidays ever. Such fun!**

**Anyway, I'm playing around with some ideas for this story, so I may make it longer than I originally intended. We'll see. **

**Any characters you recognise belong to Tamora Pierce.**

2

Checking her reflection in the mirror for the tenth time, Kelly mentally berated herself.

_It's just dinner down the pub. No one cares what you look like. Besides, you live in tracksuit bottoms and hoodies at work, _anything_ you wear otherwise is going to be an improvement!_

She wouldn't admit to herself the real reason why she wanted to look nice. She knew Neil would make some sort of comment about it, as he always did whenever Dom joined them on a night out.

Running a brush through her chin length hair, Kelly sighed, pulling her fringe so it lay flatter on her forehead. The haircut had been a mistake; she had not really been paying attention when the hairdresser asked her what she wanted, instead thinking about lesson plans and marking. The next thing she knew, most of her straight mousy brown hair had been on the floor.

Well, there was nothing to be done about it now. Kelly put the hair brush down and put on a slick of clear lip-gloss. Stepping back from the mirror, she considered the overall effect of her best blue jeans and the floral patterned shirt.

_It'll do_, Kelly thought, wrinkling her nose. She slid her feet into a pair of ballet pumps (she never wore heels – she was nearly six-foot as it was) just as her mobile phone beeped to signal a text message.

It was Neil. "_Outside."_

Grabbing her bag and jacket on the way, Kelly trotted down the stairs of her first-floor flat and opened the front door to an unwelcome sight.

_Oh no…_

Kelly had been expecting Neil's car, but was confronted instead with Dom's old red Mini. Out of the tiny passenger window, she saw Neil himself; face pressed against the glass, grinning widely at her.

She knew his game. Neil was going to say he had to leave early, leave her to get a lift home with Dom on her own and hope that magic ensued. Kelly had other ideas. Her secret crush on Dom was going to stay precisely that. A crush. And a secret. Kelly wasn't good at flirting. Any attempts always ended with hideous embarrassment on her part and sometimes on the other person's as well.

Embarrassment was something else Kelly wasn't good at.

_I'm going to kill him,_ she thought to herself. _Not only is his hair-brained matchmaking scheme going to end badly, the three of us are going to look like some sort of child's joke all piling out of this car. I'm not even sure how we're all going to fit in._

As if to prove her point, Neil opened the door and unfolded himself, joint by joint.

"My Lady," he said, giving a flourishing bow. Kelly rolled her eyes. "As a true gentleman, I will even let you have the front seat."

It took about five minutes for Neil to pull forward the passenger seat and crawl gamely into the back. It took another five minutes for Kelly to pleat herself into the front seat, shift the chair as fair forward as it would go to accommodate Neil's stupidly long legs and manage to put her seatbelt on without kneeing herself in the chin.

Finally settled, she turned to the driver. "Hi Dom!"

He smiled at her, making her heart speed up. "Hey Kellsbells." That nickname, from anyone else, would have made her cringe. From Dom, it made her grin like a silly schoolgirl. "I take it Meathead here didn't warn you about the Mini situation. Apparently his car's not starting."

"It does that sometimes," came Neil's slightly muffled voice from the back. Kelly caught a glimpse of his smug face in the mirror and fought to keep the scowl from her face. "Can we go please? I think the blood's being cut off to all my limbs."

"Well, at least it doesn't need to make its way to your brain," retorted Dom, shifting the tiny car into gear and pulling away.

Thankfully the drive to the pub was only short. Kelly gripped the handle above the door with white knuckles as the Mini bumped and clattered its way along the road.

"Dom…I don't mean to offend…but _why_ have you got this car?"

He winced; although whether it was from the question or the grinding noise the car made as he shifted up a gear, Kelly couldn't tell. "I inherited it from my older brother. He decided he needed a newer model, and I just needed a car so…" He glanced at her, eyebrow raised. "What's wrong with a Mini anyway? They're classic cars! Haven't you ever seen _The Italian Job_?"

"No," admitted Kelly, grimacing as they went over a speed bump and the top of her head hit the roof. "And I'm not disputing that Minis are very nice cars generally speaking. But not when they're this old and rattly. And not when you're over six-foot tall and have equally tall friends and relatives."

"Point taken."

Kelly craned her head to look back at Neil. "So where's Yuki tonight?"

There were a couple of grunts as Neil shifted position before answering, "My darling fiancé decided that she couldn't bear a night sitting with a group of teachers talking nothing but shop and panicking about OFSTED. So she's staying hope to Skype her mother in Japan about wedding stuff. Because that's _so_ much more fun!"

Kelly smiled. She always allowed herself to feel a little smug whenever Neil spoke about his relationship. She had been the one to introduce Neil to Yuki – a childhood friend from the few years she'd lived in Japan when her father had been transferred there with his job. Yuki had come to stay with Kelly a few years before, to improve her English with a view to becoming a translator, met Neil…and had never left. The wedding was in a mere four months.

"Here we are children," commented Dom, as he brought the Mini to a screeching halt. The car park of the Green Knight was fuller than Kelly had ever seen it before.

"Everyone's got the same idea as you two, by the looks of it," said Dom. "Hang on a tick; I'll give you a hand out."

Dom exited the car with the ease of much practise. Trotting round to the passenger side, he opened to door and offered Kelly a hand. "Fair maiden, if it please you."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but grinned nonetheless, allowing him to bodily haul her out of the miniscule car. As she tried to lever herself out without braining herself on the doorframe, Kelly lost her balance and fell against Dom.

"Whoops! Are you all right?"

Later, Kelly would admit to herself she lingered there a little too long; when she finally stepped back from his embrace, her cheeks felt extremely warm. She kept her eyes on the ground.

"Kelly?"

Tearing her eyes away from Dom's Converse trainers, Kelly met his blue eyes with her hazel ones. "I'm fine." It came out too softly. She cleared her throat. "I'm fine, thanks. Sorry."

He gave her a slightly confused smile and Kelly felt her heart speed up. The moment was ruined seconds later when a cross voice came from the car, "Oi! Is anyone actually going to let me out?"

Dom stuck his tongue out at her and moved her gently to the side so he could help his errant cousin. Kelly watched him for a moment, before realising she was essentially staring at his bum in his extremely _well_ fitting jeans.

_God, what's _wrong_ with me?_ She suddenly felt hot and flustered. Turning away to compose herself, Kelly trained her gaze at the dim-lit field that lay behind the pub.

She frowned and squinted. In the distance a large fortification lay. From the battlements, flags fluttered gently in a breeze that Kelly couldn't feel. That same non-existent breeze seemed to bring to her the smells of stables and mud.

"Hey, Dolly Daydream! Come on, there's a pint with my name on it in there," said Neil from behind her. Dom was already walking towards the pub.

Kelly half turned. "Neil, look over there, can you see…" she turned back and let the sentence trail away. There was nothing there but the twinkling of lights from the motorway in the distance and the empty field.

"What?" Neil looked over her shoulder.

Kelly realised her mouth was hanging open, shut it and then shook her head. "I think I'm actually going mad. Come on, perhaps I need a drink after all." She gave him a stern look now Dom was out of earshot. "Oh…and I'm going to kill you by the way."

He didn't look bothered by this statement in the slightest – in fact he seemed as pleased as punch with himself. "Look at the bright side, Mindelan. At least it's taken your mind off school!"


End file.
